Santiago
MAY 18-A superficial glance at Chile might lead one to conclude that everything is moving to the right. Among the parties of the right, the fascist movement Patria y Libertad [Fatherland and Freedom] is becoming stronger. In the Christian Democracy the right wing has carried the day. The right wing of the Unidad Popular [Popular Unity] is getting stronger. Even the left wing of the Socialist party and the left MAPU [Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitaria - Movement for United Popular Action] are softening their line, and the MIR [Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria — Movement of the Revolutionary Left] itself goes so far as to defend Bachelet, the military official who has brought about a retreat from the distribution of goods under popular control.
Yet the workers vanguard is boldly moving into action in the face of the
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right-wing escalation. This is clearly shown by the Vicuña Mackena Cordón. Cordon is the term used to refer to the concentration of factories along certain avenues in Santiago. These concentrations are called cordones industriales [industrial belts].
The working class is organized into unions on a factory basis, and these unions are grouped into federations of the various industrial branches; these federations in turn belong to the Central Unica de Trabajadores [CUT-Workers Central Union]. The leadership of the CUT is bureaucratized and serves as a brake on the workers, though to a lesser extent than in other countries, owing to workers mobility. The main political force in it is the Communist party, though it also includes even Christian Democrats.
As in every prerevolutionary process, the masses are beginning to create new organizations that are
The big advantage of organizing by cordones lies in their ability to quickly assemble the masses and leaders, which is something that federations by industrial branch cannot do. In a period of "emergencies" such as the present one, this is a quality of no small value. Their big weakness is also tied to "emergencies," since it is only during such periods that they surge forward in a demonstration of workers power.
During periods of relative calm, the workers representatives who continue to attend cordón meetings are overwhelmed by petty-bourgeois elements, who are also allowed to attend because the vanguard workers are not sectarian. In these cases, interminable "high-level" discussions can be heard, heavily flavored with personal recrimination and superficiality ("fish-head stupidities" is the way the Chilean worker describes this); and along with all this are MIR-ist proposals for artificial "mobilizations" that are not prepared at the rank-and-file level.
But now, when the workers sense an imminent threat from the right or the capitulation of the reformists, they are returning to their cordón and calling a gentle but firm halt to the behavior of their generally well-intentioned petty-bourgeois friends.
This can be seen very clearly in the case of Vicuna Mackena. In face of preparations for a new strike by the bosses in the transportation industry (in spite of the fact that the government is rewarding their strength by offering them 2,000 vehicles); in face of the escalation of the right wing in the political and economic spheres, especially as regards the problem of distribution; in face of the escalation in activity by the bands of Patria y Libertad; in face of the threat of seditious actions by the right during the [May 21] ceremony opening the next session of the national Congress, at which Allende will be speaking; in face of this entire offensive by the bourgeoisie, the cordón is stirring like a colossus awakening from slumber. Unlike previous meetings, during which the cordón languished with little worker representation, the workers vanguard from the zone was strongly represented at the last one. It got right to the point and some important concrete agreements were arrived at:
1. It was agreed that in case of a strike by the bosses, the workers in the cordón would organize transportation in a centralized fashion so that the workers will be able to reach their factories. This is to be done with ve hicles belonging to the factories.
2. Workers in two unions, one of which is in the "Monserrat" supermarket (which is in the hands of the workers), have formed a committee to organize a people's store for the cordón. It will operate out of one of the factories.
The following was projected: a) that industries that produce food or other consumer goods will supply the store with them; b) that industries that produce something needed by the consumer-goods-producing industries will supply them; c) that factories that have been taken over by the workers and that possess vehicles will make them available for transporting the above; d) that the cordón demands that the Distribuidora Nacional [DINAC - National Distribution Agency], which is owned by the state, supply goods; e) that the private distribution agency, CODINA, will also be pressured to do the same; f) that a meeting will be held of all the popular and peasants groups in the area in order to organize the distribu-
SALVADOR ALLENDE
tion of goods to them via the people's store in the cordón.
3. Reactivate the Vigilance Committees for the Protection of Enterprises in places where they existed last October, and create them where they did not. These are pickets that are more or less equipped to defend industries, since there is a danger that the reactionary forces will attempt to take them over. In addition, these committees and all the workers in general are to remain on the alert for any seditious activity by the right wing.
4. Agitation and propaganda are to be stepped up. Since only a small number of the factories in the zone are affiliated with the cordón, the work of the cordón must be made known to the broadest layers of the rank and file. It is felt that the people's store, which is taking charge of a vital problem for Chile, will enhance both the prestige of the cordón and the need for it.
5. Not to return to private ownership the Hilandería Andina [Andina Spinning Mill], which was taken over by the workers and is operating better than ever since it lost its boss. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of returning it.
Problems like the distribution of goods are not mere conjunctural problems. As a result, they can serve as a permanent axis for developing the dynamism of the cordón.
Thus the working class is offering a challenge not only to the right wing and its escalation, but also to the retreat of the forces of reformism in the face of this escalation.
The producing class is beginning to take up the problem of organizing the distribution of the goods that it produces. In itself this is a very serious matter. But it is all the more so in a context in which the bourgeoisie has been making statements such as the one made in the May 12 editorial of El Mercurio: "Civil war, or at least confrontation, appears inevitable." It is in view of all these factors that the great proposal of the CP for the present situation takes on its full savor: "Collect signatures against civil war."